Let's be fair to the Aleph Hotel

Having booked 7 nights at the Aleph (at a great off-season rate through expedia.com), I read your reviews with keen interest. An exceptionally negative or positive review of this uber-hip joint says more about the writer than the hotel. Very clean, very cool, youthful and exuberant (some might say wacky), in design, but stuffy and boring it is not... and the reading room is a kick. The rooms and bathrooms are (relatively) large, well designed, and quite modern, making them comfortable for all ages. The staff is paid more for their looks than their talent, but all of them were unfailingly friendly. It doesn't have that "we attend to your every need" vibe that the grand hotels exude, but you never feel that a funeral is taking place in the next room, either. That puts it in the 4 rather than 5 star class in my book, but owing to the great design and newness, it probably got the nudge upward from the judges. Never tried the restaurant (and I'm a restaurant critic), but the menu is as eclectic and modern as the decor. When in Rome--I say--eat as the Romans have for the past 2000years. The room service prices are 5-star, i.e. obscene, but walk a block for better stuff at one-fifth the price. Buon appetito!

Trendy and convenient

I stayed at Hotel Aleph for a week over Valentines Day weekend and enjoyed the hotel. The first thing that struck me when we got there was how trendy and "un-European" the hotel looked. It was all red and very modern. Overall, I enjoyed my stay at the hotel. It's a good hotel if you know what to do and where to eat before you check in, as the staff is not particularly knowledgeable.

Pros: 1. Very trendy and a good place to come back to after days of sightseeing old ruins 2. Free Internet access in the lobby 3. Good restaurant in the hotel 4. Absolutely love the free use of the (wading) pool, sauna, and steam room 5. Very convenient location. Only 10 min walk to Piazza Di Spagna and the main shopping center 6. Big bed (especially for Europe) and love the large "waterfall" shower 7. Free apertif tapas in the bar every night

Cons: 1. Conceirge and staff were not very helpful in suggesting things to do or places to go. In fact, there wasn't a real conceirge that would normally be associated with a 5-star hotel 2. Overall, staffing and service was more on par with a 3-star hotel

Great Room, Bad Service

The room was excellent. Very stylish, well lit, very comfortable bed,

and quite large by European standards. I loved the large, high-pressure

shower head. The spa was a nice way to relax at the end of the day. The

free high speed internet access was convenient for researching

restaurants, since the concierge was relatively useless.

Unfortunately, the service did not come close to five star level. They seemed understaffed and confused. We attempted to contact the concierge before arrival for assistance in making restaurant reservations, but they would not return our emails, phone calls, or faxes. We were never apprised that breakfast was included.

Our stay was over Christmas and the laundry service may have been on vacation. They ran out of washcloths and would not replace ours. The English channels on the TV worked intermittently.

Aleph was lovely

We stayed at the Aleph on December 26th for one night before leaving from the Rome airport. The decor is fantastic and you feel like you are checking into a room in "future Rome". We arrived and were given our room key only to find the maid still cleaning our room. We came back down and the front desk was extremely apologetic and gave us complimentary wine while we used the free internet access in the library. As soon as the room was ready, we headed up and were delighted with our corner deluxe room....not a large room, but VERY clean and modern luxury. We decided to give the spa a try before heading out onto the town and were able to unwind in the FREE sauna and steam rooms...quite a nice bonus to this hotel!!!!!

We slept wonderfully in the 'heavenly bed' (similar to Westins) and I would absolutely stay here again. We got the hotel for a BARGAIN price on Orbitz of $181.00!!!!!!!!! Well worth it! The staff was extremely helpful and friendly and the location is very nice...right next to the Piazza Barbarini.

Dont stay at Aleph! Keep your money.

DONT STAY AT THIS HOTEL. We got a promotional rate, so I don't know if that has anything to do with our treatment....but here's our experience. The promotional rate was more expensive than a 5 star Manhattan hotel!My wife and I stayed here for our anniversary on our first night in Rome in Dec 2003. The hotel is very stylishly decorated, but no way could it be 5 stars. I would give it 3 at best. I've travelled the world, and spent time as a designer for a luxury travel company. I can tell you from experience since I have truly stayed in the best hotels in the world. I am also a bargain hunter. My wife and I spend a great deal of time on the internet looking for ways to get the most for our money. The Aleph was NOT a value. I chose this hotel to splurge a little since it was our anniversary. We changed hotels the next day to Hotel San Carlo about 5 minutes away near the Spanish Steps and got SO much more for the money.The decor at the Aleph's first floor was very nice. From a design aspect, they've done a good job. The elevators have been equipped with tv monitors in the ceiling and happen to be tuned to Bloomberg and CNN. It's a very American area due to the proximity of the US Embassy literally around the corner. The staff was having some sort of crisis when we arrived, and we felt uneasy the moment we walked up to the reception desk. The woman showed us to our room, filling us in on the little secret that we were getting one of the nicest rooms in the hotel, as if she had done us a favor. For this, of course, she expected a tip. The room we were given was a corner "Deluxe" double and was very stylishly decorated. However it was not very clean and we had an awful view of the building next to us. The style of the room was very modern, but not very practical. The woman who showed us the room insisted that we follow her into the bathroom to see the small tv monitor installed in the floor in front of the toilet. She wanted to show us this feature so badly, that she forgot the remote control for it at the front desk. She promised that she would bring it right up, but we never saw her again. Not that I was too disappointed, not getting to watch one of nine channels in Italian while on the toilet. By the way, once we arrived at our next hotel, we realized that Aleph had scrambled CNN on ch. 9 (the only English channel they offered). We assume that this was an attempt to push us into buying one of their pay per view titles for 14 euro. We also rely on the internet for business, and always have our laptops with us. A selling point for this hotel was high speed internet access in the room. We tried to use the service, but had no luck. When I asked for assistance from someone in reception, I was told that if it didn't work I should just use one of the two computers in the downstairs library. I think they knew it didn't work but didn't want to tell me, and certainly not help. We went downstairs the next morning to check out, only to find the same crisis with the staff. They seemed to be arguing over who was going to help us. Their printer was also broken and they couldn't print our bill. These, I'm offering with benefit of doubt, are problems any hotel could have.If you're into art and design, and are willing to spend money for decor and not service and practicality, this may be a good hotel to stay in. But if you're like most of us, and reading this review because you want more for your money, then spend it somewhere else. We will not stay again at the Aleph, or for that matter, any Boscolo hotel.

Stay somewhere else...

Spent a few nights here during my honeymoon and this was by far the worst hotel yet the most highly rated. You've already read about the SMALL rooms and tacky decor, but that wasn't the worst part. When we checked in and asked for some basic directions, concierge desperately tried to get us to change our plans and go on one of their tours, then implored us to cancel our original dinner reservation and go to a "new and hip" restaurant. When I saw the photos of this restaurant, I grew very angry as it was apparent they OWNED it!! (same ugly design--same designer) When confronted, they suddenly didn't know and didn't understand my question. I let them know this was absolutely unacceptable and that we felt totally manipulated and they wasted our time. They are touted as a 5-star hotel. The service alone warrants a 1 or 2 star at best. Also, a/c was lame. You can find much better places to stay for the money. This is a very depressing hotel.

Definitely Not a 5 Star Hotel

This was definitely not a 5 star hotel. The housekeeping staff was awful. During our one week stay, housekeeping only came in to make-up our beds and spot clean the bathroom. The linens were never changed, the floors were not vacuumed or mopped. The air-conditioning unit leaked from the ceiling. We constantly had to ask them to replace the washcloths. Although we complained to management and they claimed that they would have housekeeping do their job, it did no good.

There is no "night-life" there to speak of although a happening nightlife is claimed on the website. The lobby is incredibly small. It is definitely a boutique hotel. The rooms were a bit too "modern" for my taste. It looked more like an art deco dorm room.

The good things about this hotel are it's location in respect to the Barberini Plaza, the subway, the ATM's, and most of the tourist sites.

I will definitely go back to the hotels on Via Veneto next time.

A most pleasent stay

This is a newly redecorated hotel with a very modern look. The lobby, bar and restaurant are all in shocking red. The rooms while not large are very nice and clean. The lighting in the rooms is unique. The bathroom is ample and very modern. The staff provided excellent service all around.

Perhaps the best part were the ample and delicious breakfasts that are included as part of the room price.

Loved this new hotel

This is a new hotel by the Boscolo Luxury chain. The hotel was only opened for 10 days when we arrived in April, 2003. So there are still a few kinks to work out - the hotel room was too hot, opening the window let in some mosquitoes. But overall, this hotel is perfectly located - near sights and transportation, the staff are friendly and accomodating. And everything was new and clean. We got a great rate and breakfast because the wonderful Spa they have planned is not yet completed. Its an ultra contempory hotel which was refreshing after viewing the antiquities of Rome.